The Other Jack London

 Born on this day in 1905 was Jack London – not that Jack London, author of White Fang, The Call of the Wild etc, but a British athlete of whom I am surprised we haven't heard more, in these times when black achievement in any field is so diligently celebrated. London was born in Guyana (British Guiana as it was then), came to London as a child, then moved back to Guyana, before returning to England and studying at the Regent Street Polytechnic. There his athletic prowess soon became apparent, he was elected captain of the sports club in 1922, and was an early adopter of starting blocks (as against digging footholds – it seems a no brainer now). A few years later, London ran the 100 metres in 10.7 seconds, winning both the 100m and 200m races in international competition with France. Then, at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, he equalled the Olympic 100m record and won silver in the final, as well as bronze in the 4x100m relay. He was, it seems, the first black British Olympian. A year later, he became the first British runner to win the AAA's 100 yards title since the famous Harold Abrahams (see Chariots of Fire).  
  After he retired from athletics, having sustained a leg injury, things took a really quite surprising turn, as he became an entertainer, recording his occupation as 'pianist' in 1930 when he married his first wife. He played piano in the original cast of Noel Coward's Cavalcade, and – here's where it does get a bit weird – he had a leading role in a Will Hay comedy, Old Bones of the River, a spoof of Edgar Wallace's Sanders of the River. In this, a Professor Tibbets, representative of the Teaching and Welfare Institution for the Reformation of Pagans (T.W.I. R.P.), arrives in Africa to spread education and enlightenment among the natives. London plays M'Bapi, half-brother of the tribal chief Bosambo, who distinguishes himself first by tricking Tibbets into importing a gin still, then by leading a revolt against Bosambo, and helping to rescue a baby from being sacrificed. Rather surprisingly, Old Bones of the River is available on YouTube. I fancy time will not have been kind to it...
  As for Jack London, he seems to have ended up as a porter at St Pancras Hospital, and to have died suddenly of a subarachnoid haemorrhage. A few years ago, his Olympic medals turned up on Antiques Roadshow, brought in by his great niece, and were subsequently sold at auction.